AFI FILM FEST: A WINDOW ON SOME FAR SHORES : SATURDAY

“Ping Pong” (Great Britain, 1986, 5:30 p.m.). A young woman becomes embroiled in London’s Chinese underworld when she’s hired to administer the last testament of a former crime czar. Part thriller, part romance, heavily atmospheric and totally fascinating, this first film by Po-chih Leong proves worthy of wading through some murky narrative stretches. Ultimately the film, marginally concerned with the mystery, serves up a richly textured portrait of a transplanted society caught between tradition and transition. Recommended.